“I’m hopeful that before it’s released to the general public that we might be able to look at it,” he said.

DeFazio added that a reauthorization of the law could be bipartisan and “doesn’t need to be contentious.”

The Magnuson-Stevens Act expired at the end of fiscal 2013.

DeFazio also said that the Endangered Species Act could be updated to ensure that the conservation methods of individual species added to the list did not conflict with each other.

“I'm hopeful that, in a collaborative way, we can look at some reforms that will make the act work better to achieve the goals that were set forth 40 years ago,” DeFazio said. “It is a 40-year-old law and we do need to recognize more modern science and approaches to accomplish those goals.”

Hastings also told the House committee on Thursday, during its final hearing of the year, that lawmakers would begin work to establish a wilderness area in Michigan and pass a new public lands law when Congress returned after the holiday recess.